Digimon Adventure DM
by J.A.Phillips
Summary: NOT CONNECTED TO ANY OTHER SERIES. Two worlds are in very real danger, and only a group of children with strong dreams and good hearts can reclaim the DigiMemories and save the worlds from evil. Rated T for safety purposes.
1. Go, Satoshi! The Beginning of A Dream!

_**DISCLAIMER:**_ I do not own Digimon, though this story does include some fan made Digimon. Digimon was created by Akiyoshi Hongo, Toei Animation, and Bandai.

* * *

Satoshi Sakamoto sighed as he leaned back in his chair in the classroom, his black and orange goggles hanging from his neck. Attendance was being called, and he could hardly recognize a single name. It wouldn't be so irritating to him being in a class full of people he didn't know, though…if this wasn't what felt like the thousandth time it'd happened to him, that is.

For as long as he could remember, Satoshi was passed back and forth between his parents: His mother, who lived here in Japan, and his father, who lived in Canada. Even though he'd been told they used to be the stereotypical 'big happy family', he honestly couldn't remember it at all. He only knew being passed back and forth by two parents that claimed to love him but seemed more interested in making his life a living-

"Hello?!" he heard someone shout, breaking his train of thought.

Satoshi groaned as he looked forward at the source of the voice: Yuji Yamaguchi. The only reason he knew his name was because he was the resident jerk and suck-up to the teacher, plus his trademark blue beret. "Miss Mamiya was calling your name over and over! Get your head out of the clouds, man!"

Satoshi growled, but chose not to do anything, knowing it's what Yuji wanted. He was pleased to hear the person sitting behind him say "It's okay. Guys like him get theirs eventually." He looked back at the girl sitting behind him: A Chinese girl in glasses named Neilina. Again, he only knew her name for a single reason, but in this case, it's because she was in the same boat as him: Parents split, and having to move back and forth between her two parents. However, despite this similar upbringing, he didn't make lengthy conversation with her. Nothing personal against her, mind you, he just liked to keep to himself.

Class went by pretty much the same as usual: They went over a lesson that Satoshi honestly could care less about until they went to Creative Writing. That's where he excelled. Much as he hated to agree with Yuji on something, his head was in the clouds a lot, but that's where he liked to be. He liked to dream of far off worlds and fantastic adventures. Sadly, that class was never long enough for him, and soon found himself heading to recess.

"Hey…Satoshi, right?" He heard Neilina call for him as he walked out into the hall.

"…Yeah." he replied, turning to face her. "What can I do for you?"

"Actually, I was hoping I could do something for you." Neilina explained. "I don't mean to be nosy, but…I saw some of your writing. You'd really like to have an adventure, wouldn't you?"

Satoshi's eyes narrowed a little suspiciously. "…So? What, you're gonna start picking on me for that too?"

Neilina quickly shook her head. "No, not at all! I was just going to say…I think that really suits you, Satoshi. You're very creative, thoughtful…You're not like the other boys in our class, least of all that jerk Yuji."

"…O-Oh…" Satoshi mumbled, turning away slightly as he felt his face heat up. "Well…Thanks, I guess…Is that all?"

Neilina walked up to him. Very slyly, she placed her hand over his and Satoshi could feel her place something in his palm. As she walked past, he could hear her whisper something to him, just before she took off down the hall. Opening his hand, he saw the object she put in his hand: A small gray virtual pet with an egg on the screen. He could only look confused at it as he thought about her words.

"Enjoy your adventure."

* * *

Elsewhere, stomping his way through a large, molten area was a giant orange and black dinosaur wearing a dark brown helmet with three horns and a large metal spike at the end of his tail. He growled as he saw a green dragon with a spiked ball at the end of his tail, red spines lining his back, red talons coming out of his paws, and two massive claws coming from his back. The dragon stared a hole through him, growling menacingly.

"You should have left while you had the chance, Greymon!" the green dragon shouted. "You may have been the ruler of this sector once, but now I, Groundramon, am the mightiest of all! Hand over the DigiMemory, and with it, the title of King of Dragon's Domain!"

Greymon grinned. "…Still have so much to learn…BRING IT ON!"

With that, the two beasts charged each other hard and fast, clashing skulls first. The growled as they pushed on each other, Groundramon gaining the advantage as he began to push Greymon back. Groundramon began to laugh as Greymon tried to dig his talons into the molten earth.

"Give it up, ex-King!" Groundramon shouted. "I'm far stronger than you!"

"A strong ruler never surrenders…" Greymon muttered, grinning suddenly. "…when he has no reason to!"

Ducking down, Greymon let Groundramon flip over him. He then raised his jaws up, taking a bite out of one of Groundramon's massive arms, watching as small data bits flew off where a part of his arm once was. Groundramon howled as he rolled across the ground, finally landing on all fours.

"Clever…" Groundramon groaned. "…But not clever enough! **Megaton Hammer Crush!** "

Greymon had no time to react as suddenly Groundramon swung his tail forward, catching Greymon in the gut. He let out a horrid moan as he fell to the ground, the wind forcefully pounded from his lungs.

" **Giga Crack!** " Groundramon shouted, slamming the ground with his entire body and causing a tremor to open up the earth under Greymon. Unable to stop himself, Greymon fell through the ground and into the molten pit below. Groundramon held his head high and laughed.

"I did it! I won!" he called out. "I AM THE KING!"

Suddenly, lava burst out from the earth, splashing onto the ground as a flash of light shot out from the crack made by Groundramon. A golden-orange glowing emblem appeared in the erupting lava, resembling the outline of a dragon, just as a loud booming voice declared, "Greymon Digivolve to… **MegaloGreymon!** " With that, Greymon emerged from the lava, landing feet first on the ground with a loud thud, but he'd clearly changed. He'd grown much larger, with new golden cybernetic armour across his chest, legs, and tail. His helmet was now replaced with a gold plated one with new red hair protruding out from the back, and the spike at the end was replaced with trident-like spikes.

"I-It can't be!" Groundramon yelled in defiance. "I am the only Ultimate here!"

"Guess again!" MegaloGreymon shouted back, his chest armour opening to reveal a large fold-out Gatling gun of sorts, only filled with rockets instead of bullets. " **Gatling Destroyer**!"

The missiles fired out from MegaloGreymon's chest and impacted Groundramon hard, sending out a huge shockwave that blasted apart the torn up and molten earth around them. A gigantic flash of light blinded the two as it enveloped the entire area, swallowing it whole.

* * *

Satoshi sighed hard as he flopped on his bed, glad school was done so he could just relax in his room. His mom was out getting groceries, so he could be by himself for a little while…A real shame, then, that he was bored out of his mind.

Thinking back to earlier, Satoshi reached into his pocket and got out his v-pet. It was still an egg, and based on what he'd heard during lunch from some people that had them, it should stay that way for at least a day, depending on what it hatched into.

 _Wonderful…_ he thought to himself. _What a great adventure she got me hooked on. Maybe next time she'll get me to race a snail…_

With a groan, Satoshi sprawled out on his bed. Suddenly feeling tired, he decided to go ahead and nap right there and then, not bothering to put his v-pet away. However, the very instant he felt himself start to drift off, something happened. Just as he was too deep in his unconsciousness to notice, the v-pet began to beep and flash. The pixelated egg on the screen suddenly began to tremble and hatch, sending out a wave of energy out of the device and onto the floor near Satoshi's bed, all the while the device was shifting and changing in his hand into an orange device with a light blue screen, a second screen folded behind the device.

The energy on the ground suddenly started to take form. Within moments, a small round pink creature was sitting on the floor, looking up at Satoshi's form. With barely a moment's hesitation, it jumped up onto the bed, right by Satoshi's head, as the boy began to stir and wake back up.

"Nnngh…" he mumbled, his eyes suddenly shooting open as they focused in on the creature looking him in the eye. "…Y-wha?!"

* * *

Neilina let out a small yawn as she got off the couch. Her dad was still at work, so she had the place to herself, something that was becoming far more frequent. However, just as she'd decided to lay down for a nap, a rather irritating-sounding knocking had started coming from the door to her apartment. As such, she walked to the front door and, after seeing Satoshi on the other side through the peep-hole, opened it.

"...Can I help you?" she asked, rubbing the drowsiness from her eye.

"Yeah, I was in the neighbourhood, and was wondering if you didn't mind explaining THIS!" Satoshi growled, unzipping his book bag to reveal the small pink creature inside, feasting on a meatball sub.

Neilina's eyes widened at the sight, but quickly regained control of her excitement. "Here, come inside, and keep it down."

Satoshi rolled his eyes, walking into the apartment. A quick glance around the place made it immediately clear that Neilina was the only one home, which made him nervous for a moment, until he recalled the pink blob with some kind of strange-looking antennae in his book bag. As such, he quickly returned to the point of his being there.

"Okay, wanna start explaining THIS now?" Satoshi asked, just as Neilina reached into her pocket and pulled out a similar device to Satoshi's, only coloured pink. She held it out, pointed toward the creature as it hopped out of the backpack and to the floor, and the second screen suddenly slid out from the back, showing a rotating image of the creature as information was displayed on the lower screen.

"Koromon, a Lesser Digimon," Neilina explained as she read through the information. "Looks like he's still In-Training, and can only defend himself with Acid Bubbles."

Satoshi blinked, utterly confused. "...I don't think I caught a single word of that."

"It's a Digimon, or Digital Monster," Neilina went on, closing the top screen of her device. "They live in a world comprised entirely of data created through the world's communications networks. They normally can't come to this world, but it is possible for some to slip through the cracks in the barrier between the Digital World and the Human World."

"Wait, you mean that v-pet you gave me was a real living creature?!" Satoshi demanded, immediately getting shushed.

"Not normally, no," Neilina replied. "But apparently, some Digimon are able to realize into the Human World through data in contact with children like us. At that point, the device storing the data is changed into what's called a Digivice DM, and the Digimon passes into this world through it."

"So, there's some parallel world where monsters made of computer data live?" Satoshi asked, getting a nod. "...And you let one come to this world...WHY?"

Neilina sighed, folding her arms. "Because we've got a problem: Another way Digimon can slip through is through intense negative emotions creating a crack between the worlds. I'm still not exactly sure how it works, but these Digimon that utilize this method of travelling between the worlds are really dangerous, eating up energy however they can and causing a lot of trouble."

"Then call the cops!" Satoshi exclaimed in as hushed a tone as he could manage.

"An adult isn't going to be so ready to believe this," Neilina pointed out. "And even if they did, you know that the second they find out about Digimon, they'd want to do all kinds of experiments on them and anyone who came in contact with them. But you're different. You've always dreamed of adventure, of helping people. That's how I knew I could trust you with a Digimon: The Digivice DM doesn't materialize for just ANY kid, it has to be a kid with strong dreams and a good heart."

"I...I don't know..." Satoshi muttered, looking away. "This all sounds crazy. How can I-"

"...Satoshi?" a small raspy voice asked, catching the boy off-guard as he saw Koromon, finished with his sandwich, now speaking to him. "Please. I can't remember a lot about my life before coming through to this world, but I remember a lot of bad Digimon bullying good Digimon. If things get like that over here...I don't wanna see anyone else go through that."

Satoshi's eyes widened, letting what Koromon was saying sink in. "...But what can I do?"

"Digimon that pass through to this world through the Digivice DM are bonded to the person wielding it," Neilina explained. "Your dreams can become a power source for Koromon to grow stronger. You can make him strong enough to save both worlds."

Satoshi let himself lean against a wall, trying to take everything that was being told to him in. However, as he tried, both his and Neilina's Digivices started beeping. Taking them out, the bottom screen displayed a digital map of the city, indicating the two of them as orange and pink dots, while a black and red dot appeared near what looked to be a building a few blocks away.

"...Oh, great," Neilina moaned. "Looks like a Digimon is coming through a crack. And based on the energy signature it's showing on the map, it's most definitely a bad one."

Satoshi looked from the screen to the door, still open from when he came in. He then looked down to Koromon, who had a stern look on his face. Finally, he looked to his left hand, watching as it shook slightly. Neilina let out a small sigh, taking a step forward.

"...Look, no one's gonna make you do something you don't wanna," she explained. "If you wanna leave Koromon and the Digivice here, go home, and pretend none of this happened, fine. But I think I know you pretty well, and I know your hand isn't shaking because you're scared."

Satoshi's eye twitched slightly as Neilina said this. ...No. It's not fear. It's...

Reaching up, Satoshi grabbed hold of his goggles, hanging from his neck, and set them on his forehead. "...Okay. Let's go!"

* * *

"I told you to open up the cash register!" a man in a black ski mask yelled, his gun trained on the clerk tending to the cash register in the convenience store.

"Please, this store was opened by my father!" the clerk cried, his hands held up as everyone in the store was panicking. "We're barely keeping ourselves afloat, and payment is due to keep ourselves ope-"

"I SAID NOW!" the thief shouted, slamming a fist down on the electronic cash register. However, as he did so, a jolt of energy knocked him back, a tear opening in the air around the cash register. From it, a large cockroach-like creature emerged, growling at everyone in the store. As most of the people fled the scene, the creature smashed open the cash register, mouth wide as a stream of digital energy flew out from it and into its stomach.

"Hey, ugly!" the creature heard, turning to face the door as Satoshi, Neilina, and Koromon entered the store. "You're supposed to pay before you go eating the goods in a grocery store!"

"Really, an action line?" Neilina asked, wanting to smack herself as she scanned the creature. "Roachmon, an Insectoid Digimon. They're really nasty, both in looks, smell, and attitude. They attack with something called...uh, Yard Sale Bombs?"

Satoshi blinked, looking back to Neilina. "...What's a Yard Sale Bomb?"

Before either kid could react, Roachmon sneered and fluttered his wings hard. Within seconds, heaps of garbage suddenly materialized in the air around him and were launched at them, sending the two kids and Koromon tumbling out onto the sidewalk.

"Ugh, you HAD to ask!" Neilina groaned, getting up out of the garbage and holding her Digivice out. " **Realize, Lopmon!** "

In a flash of light, a Digimon appeared on the sidewalk, having emerged from within Neilina's Digivice DM. It was a small brown and pink creature with three horns on its forehead and surprisingly large bunny-like ears flapping in the wind. Taking out his own Digivice, Satoshi scanned it curiously.

"Lopmon, huh?" he asked, reading through the information. "Says here she's a Rookie Digimon who attacks with her giant ears and a move called Blazing Ice."

"Okay, let's take him!" Koromon exclaimed, hopping up next to Lopmon.

"You should stay back," Lopmon advised calmly. "You're still an In-Training Digimon. Let me deal with this ornery insect."

Koromon grumbled, his face scrunching up. "Hey, I can fight just fine!"

"Look out!" Lopmon suddenly yelled, grabbing Koromon and leaping out of the way as a busted toaster oven was suddenly launched at them, crashing against the sidewalk where they'd just been standing. Roachmon quickly flew out the door, landing on all fours in the small parking lot as his opponents recomposed themselves.

" **Blazing Ice!** " Lopmon cried, taking a deep breath before releasing shots of cold air from her lungs at Roachmon. The air froze into icy shards that smacked him across the face, but seemed to do little more than agitate him as he growled at the two.

" **Acid Bubbles!** " Koromon yelled, blowing out clear green bubbles at Roachmon. Again, this attack seemed to do nothing to the Insect Digimon, who hovered off the ground and dive-bombed at the two, knocking them away.

"Koromon!" Satoshi cried, running to the little creature's side. "Are you okay?!"

"He's...a lot tougher than he looks," Koromon groaned as Satoshi scooped him up. "I can't seem to leave a scratch on him."

"Hang in there, little buddy," Satoshi said, looking him in the eye. "Oh man, how am I supposed to give you more power?! I have no idea what I'm doing here!"

"Watch out!" Neilina yelled, Satoshi looking up to see Roachmon flying overhead, his arms spread wide.

" **Yard Sale Bomb!** " Roachmon screeched, creating a pink fridge and hurling it down at the two as Neilina and Lopmon watched on, unable to react fast enough.

"SATOSHI!" Neilina screamed, reaching a hand out.

"KOROMON!" Lopmon cried, flapping her ears to sail toward them.

Satoshi's eyes widened as he watched the fridge fall toward them, seemingly in slow motion. To his surprise, however, he felt his hand start to shake again. Looking down at it, he let himself grin as he recalled what he'd felt earlier.

 _Not fear..._ Satoshi thought, taking his hand and grabbing hold of his Digivice with it. _Excitement. This is MY adventure, and it's just getting started!_

Just as this thought crossed his mind, a stream of light poured out from the Digivice DM, encasing Koromon in an egg of burning orange light as power filled his small body. It left him feeling like he was on fire as he cried out, "Koromon Digivolve to... **Agumon!** " Soon, the egg shattered into bits of light. In Koromon's place was a slightly larger, bipedal yellow dinosaur-like creature, glaring up at the fridge as it fell. With a single swipe of his claws, he broke the fridge apart, the pieces falling harmlessly around him and Satoshi.

"Whoa...!" Satoshi gasped in awe. "He's not just a head anymore!"

" **Pepper Breath!** " Agumon called, spitting out a blast of fire at Roachmon. The Insect Digimon fell back to the ground, his wings ablaze as he tried to smother them out by rolling on the ground. Satoshi stood up, still a bit in awe, but quickly snapped out of it as his Digivice displayed a small axe-like icon on the bottom screen. Realizing the bottom screen was a touch screen of some sort, Satoshi pressed the icon with his finger, sending out a flash of light that produced a red and silver axe in Agumon's claws.

" **Battle Hawk!** " Agumon yelled, running at Roachmon as he started to get back to his feet. Before the Insect Digimon could react, though, Agumon slashed straight through him with the axe. Roachmon let out a cry of anguish as he fell apart into digital bits, leaving only an egg behind, which quickly floated back into the store and through the rift in space, said rift closing behind it.

Satoshi blinked in surprise at this, having followed the egg back into the store. "..W-What happened to Roachmon?"

"He regressed into a DigiEgg," Neilina explained, breathing a hard sigh of relief as she followed Satoshi inside. "Digimon never really die, they just return to their initial forms and start their lives over again. Some bad Digimon can even have their negative data purified so that they have a chance to be good."

"Well, I hope that's the ca-AH!" Satoshi started to say before letting out a cry, backing up at what he saw laying on the floor next to the man in the ski mask. "A-A gun!"

Neilina's eyes widened in shock, but upon spotting the gun, she noticed something off about it right away. Walking over, she reached down and carefully picked it up, noticing a spot of orange on the barrel, and the darkened grey around it chipping off. Her jaw nearly hit the ground as it suddenly occurred to her what this meant.

"...It's a toy?" Neilina realized, the clerk getting up from his hiding place behind the desk and glaring at the would-be thief, all while Satoshi face-palmed hard.

"You robbed a convenience store with a toy gun you painted over?" Satoshi demanded. "How clichéd could you get?!"

"Uhh, Satoshi?" Agumon asked as he and Lopmon entered the store, scaring the clerk back into hiding. "Do you have another one of those big sandwiches? I'm kinda hungry..."

Satoshi groaned, looking into his pockets. "Hang on, lemme see if I have any money..."

"JUSTTAKEITANDGETOUT!" the clerk cried, clearly about to wet himself.

* * *

Meanwhile, watching the two kids and their Digimon leave from a nearby rooftop was Yuji, having seen the entire battle. He couldn't help but roll his eyes at Satoshi as the boy continued to pester Neilina with questions and boasts of how he and Agumon defeated Roachmon.

"He beats a cockroach and thinks that's cause to celebrate like he's king of the world?" Yuji wondered aloud, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a blue Digivice DM. "Wait until he sees what I can do."

"Does that mean we're finally getting into the action?" a voice asked from within the Digivice.

Yuji smirked, turning to leave via the fire escape. "Maybe, if the Digimon that pop into this world get stronger than mere insects. Don't worry, Gabumon, your time's coming up soon..."

* * *

 _ **AUTHOR'S NOTES:**_ So, welcome to the first chapter of my new Digimon fanfic! This is actually an idea I've had bouncing around for a few years now, and am happy to see finally make it to being written on a website. As such, let's get this out of the way right now: This fic is not part of any of the established continuities presented in the anime, video games, card games, and so on. It is its own continuity with some similarities to others. The Digimon presented will be a balance between the old, the new, the rarely seen on the show, and some, like MegaloGreymon, that are completely made up. Also, while it mostly sticks to the English translations of the show and the terminology used there, because some of the translations don't make much sense, and because some Digimon, their names, and their attack names have MULTIPLE translations, the names used might seem a bit on the random side, but don't worry too much about it.

And while I'm writing this, let's get some of the basic fandom questions out of the way: I just saw the season 2 finale of Digimon Fusion a couple of weeks ago. I like the show just fine, although some of the translations done can be a bit irritating in places, and some of the plot points can feel like they were done better in previous seasons of Digimon. I'm currently rewatching Frontier, since I didn't watch the entire series the full way through the first time around, and while some are irritated at the fact that it's basically Power Rangers with Digimon, as a fan of both, not that big a problem with me. What IS irritating for both it and Fusion, however, is the absolute ignoring of Digivolution Levels, but after a while, you just have to accept that different continuities play with different rules. The newest Digimon game I played was Digimon Dawn for the Nintendo DS, and I REALLY wish that Namco Bandai and tri-Crescendo would translate Re:Digitize Decode for the Nintendo 3DS in English. Some of my favourite Digimon are Veedramon, Guilmon, VictoryGreymon, Gomamon, and Justimon. I don't really have a favourite season, though it would be easy to say it's either Digimon Adventure 01 for nostalgic value or Digimon Tamers for just how much darker it got, but probably the one that results in the most negative feelings for me is Digimon Adventure 02. And lastly, I'm looking forward to seeing if Digimon Adventure tri is going to be released in English or not.

Anyway, that's it for this chapter. I'll probably start posting bios for the main characters on my Deviant Art, so be sure to check those out, and check in again to see the next chapter, where we learn more about Neilina's part in the story, as well as see Yuji and Gabumon get into the action. Ja né!


	2. Garurumon, The Steel-Furred Hound!

_**DISCLAIMER:**_ I do not own Digimon, though this story does include some fan made Digimon. Digimon was created by Akiyoshi Hongo, Toei Animation, and Bandai.

* * *

Satoshi let out a sigh as he, Agumon, Neilina, and Lopmon arrived at an alley, just a few feet away from the fork in the road leading to his and Neilina's respective apartment complexes. It'd been a long day, and he'd nearly been killed fighting Roachmon, but he still couldn't shake the excitement of knowing that the adventure he'd wanted for so long was finally starting, albeit not quite how he'd imagined.

"We should both head home," Neilina advised. "Nowadays, bad Digimon have been passing through to the Human World more often, so the more chances we get to rest, the better."

"Got'cha," Satoshi replied with a nod before a thought suddenly occurred to him. "...Wait, so we just walk home like normal? With our Digimon in clear sight where anyone could see them?"

"Of course not!" Neilina exclaimed before face-palming. "Sorry, forgot to mention, our Digivices can continue to store our Digimon even after they've hatched. Watch..."

With that, Neilina held out her Digivice DM toward Lopmon. A second later, Lopmon was caught in a beam of light from the device and pulled inside of it. The upper screen then unfolded, revealing the image of Lopmon on it, who seemed to be relaxing in the digital domain of the Digivice's insides.

"And the best part is, we recover our strength much quicker in here," Lopmon announced.

"Too bad it does nothing for our stomachs, or we'd never have to leave," Agumon joked, causing Satoshi to narrow his eyes and return him to the Digivice. "C'mon, I was only kidding! I just ate, remember?!"

"Yeah, and don't you forget it," Satoshi chastised the Reptile Digimon before looking back to Neilina. "...So, um..."

"Don't worry, we'll talk more tomorrow at school," Neilina said quickly before making her way to leave the alley. "For now, go home and relax. See ya!"

Satoshi nodded and waved as Neilina took off. Now alone, he pocketed his Digivice DM and headed for home. He'd just crossed the road when he stopped, spotting an all-too familiar figure in a blue beret standing before him, smirking cockily.

"Y-Yuji?" Satoshi asked. "What are you doing here?"

Yuji shrugged. "What, I'm not allowed to walk on the same sidewalk as you? Not enough room for you and your daydreams?"

Satoshi frowned, trying to contain a growl. "I just meant, don't you live on the other side of town or something?"

"Pfft, it's not THAT far away, 'Goggle Boy'," Yuji corrected. "At least I'm not out trying to pick up girls."

Satoshi blinked, confused. "...'Pick up girls'?"

Yuji sighed, lightly pinching the bridge of his nose. "Y'know, Neilina? Girl you were chatting up in that alley all by yourselves? Ring a bell?"

"I wasn't trying to-!" Satoshi started to yell before Yuji put a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, I know you weren't," Yuji admitted with a grin as he started to make his way around Satoshi. "You're WAY too innocent for that kinda stuff... ...Well, maybe not innocent. Naive is probably the better word for it."

Satoshi grit his teeth hard at this. "You trying to pick a fight or something?!"

"No," Yuji said slyly. "At least, not yet anyway. We'll see what tomorrow brings. Later, 'Goggle Boy'."

Satoshi growled as Yuji walked away, leaving him to stew in his anger. However, the sound of a nearby bell reminded him of what he was doing before, and he found himself dashing back toward home. Luckily, it wouldn't be too far away, as he was hoping he could make it there before his mother got home and wondered where he'd been.

* * *

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!" Satoshi's mother, Aiya, demanded the second her child walked in the door, looking more than just a little agitated with her son.

"I-I was just out for a walk!" Satoshi lied, sweating profusely.

Aiya's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I come home after getting groceries, and not only is my son gone and an entire jumbo-sized subway sandwich gone from the bread basket..."

 _Dammit, Agumon..._ Satoshi cursed inwardly, only now realizing he'd be the one to blame for that.

"...but THEN, I find out that there was an armed robbery not far from here," Aiya went on, "and all I can think of is whether or not my son had been shot because he left home without asking, or at least calling me to tell me where he was going so I could arrange someone to go with him!"

Satoshi immediately felt a pang of guilt in his chest at this. "I-I'm sorry, Mom. I didn't mean to worry you..."

Aiya harrumphed hard. "Well, you did, and you can forget about having any ice cream after supper, young man!"

As soon as Aiya was finished, with zero warning whatsoever, a blast of light shot out from Satoshi's pocket. The light hit the floor between the two, as an excited Agumon appeared, shouting joyously, "There's ice cream here?!", before he realized what he'd done. Sweat rolled down his quickly reddening face as, for fifty-two full seconds, no one said ANYTHING.

"..S...SATOSHI!" Aiya cried, her eyes wide as saucers as she took a step forward.

"Mom, I can explain, really!" Satoshi insisted.

"He's ADORABLE!" Aiya proclaimed, grabbing and nuzzling Agumon.

"I know, but he-WHA?!" Satoshi exclaimed, utterly baffled.

* * *

Neilina breathed a relaxing sigh as she slipped slowly down into the seemingly mountain-sized bubbles in her bath. After her day, she definitely felt as though she needed a warm bath, and could practically already feel the horrid garbage attack from Roachmon being purified from her skin within seconds of getting in.

"Your dad left a message on the machine," Lopmon said as she entered the bathroom. "He'll be later than usual, so he said not to wait for him to go to bed. Also, I already put your clothes in the wash."

"Mmm, thanks Lopmon, you're a lifesaver," Neilina replied.

Lopmon tilted her head. "Neilina, don't you think it's about time we began the next part of the plan?"

Neilina let her eyes close, thinking it over. "...Not yet. Still a couple of things we need to get out of the way first."

"True..." Lopmon acknowledged, eyes cast downward. "It's just that I worry about everyone in the Digital World. My friends, and especially Queen Venusmon. She entrusted me with this mission, and if I let her down..."

"You won't, I promise," Neilina quickly cut in. "Besides, we were BOTH given this mission to save our two worlds. I just want to make sure everything's prepared. Don't worry, once all the DigiDestined are ready, we'll move onto stage 2."

Lopmon smiled, relieved. "Okay. Anyway, I'll go ahead and get supper ready."

Neilina nodded as the rabbit-like Digimon left, looking out the window at the night sky. _I promised I'd come back with help, and that's exactly what I'm going to do. Hang on until then...Venusmon..._

* * *

Satoshi nearly choked on his juice as he heard the last few words Aiya had said leave her lips, all the while Agumon scarfed down a bowlful of ice cream. "Dad is studying Digimon?!"

Aiya nodded. "He and his colleagues discovered the existence of the Digital World when you were a baby. It's the reason why he had to leave for overseas to work at that lab in Ontario: Information on the Digital World is being kept a guarded secret among as small a circle of people as possible. So, once the Japanese government found out what he knew, they approached him and gave him an offer: Join the staff at the research facility to continue his work, or risk his entire career being flushed down the toilet."

"But then, why did you stay here?" Satoshi asked.

Aiya smiled sadly. "Masao told the government officials that enlisted him that I didn't know about their findings. Of course, I would've gone with him if he'd asked, but he knew it'd break my heart to be away from my family."

Satoshi looked away, clenching a fist. _Dad. So that's why you moved, and why I kept getting passed back and forth between you and Mom. I knew you were doing something important, but I had no idea..._

"But I never imagined I'd ever see a real life Digimon in the Human World," Aiya went on, looking to Agumon. "Masao's findings suggested that it would be impossible to break through the barrier between worlds. I don't exactly remember why, just that he had a pretty lengthy explanation for it. But then, he always did."

"Neilina said that good Digimon were passing through because of kids' dreams, and that bad Digimon were coming because of negative emotions," Satoshi explained, "or something like that. I didn't really follow it all that well."

"Neilina Huang..." Aiya said aloud. "Now where on Earth did SHE get all of this information? How has she gotten herself caught up in all of this?"

* * *

 _Neilina raised her arms and backed off as black flames roared in front of her. Everywhere she looked, more black flames continued to rage about the once-white halls, burning down everything they touched. She could hear the sound of fighting nearby, along with screams of pain and anguish. There was no way to know exactly how many had fallen already._

 _"NEILINA!" Lopmon cried, the flames being blasted back by shards of ice as the tiny Digimon appeared down the hallway. "C'mon! We've gotta keep running!"_

 _Neilina nodded, regaining her calm. She chased after Lopmon, finding herself at a large, pearl staircase that ascended up a tower. Running along it, the two watched out smashed-open windows as shining white Angel Digimon, Angemon, battled demonic black-winged Evil Dragon Digimon, Devidramon. Radiant light resisted darkened flames again and again, as members of both sides fell, leaving behind DigiEggs in their wake._

 _Finally, after a few minutes of running, the two found themselves at a pair of stone doors. Opening them, Neilina and Lopmon entered a glittering white room with two equally radiant-looking thrones. Sitting upon one was Venusmon, Queen of the Shining Kingdom, in her white gown and incredibly long, blonde hair. Despite the cloth covering her eyes, she clearly seemed more than a bit troubled, as the tower suddenly shook hard from a harsh blast._

 _"Neilina, we're out of time," Venusmon proclaimed, standing up from her throne as Neilina and Lopmon knelt to her. "The king has gone into battle, and I must soon join him. I fear that, even if victory is claimed, many of our people will have fallen, and it will take time to rebuild what we've lost. Far too much time."_

 _"I understand," Neilina replied, frowning sadly._

 _Venusmon held a hand out over Neilina's head, a series of glittering lights fleeing from the Queen's palm and entering the girl, her partner, and her Digivice. "...Don't worry, Neilina. This is what you were brought here for. You understand your mission?"_

 _Neilina nodded, the light around her glowing stronger. "I promise, I'll gather the DigiDestined to save both worlds. And when I do...I'm coming back for you."_

 _The Queen allowed herself a small smile at this. "I will do what I can to uphold my end of that as well."_

 _"I will, too," Lopmon declared. "I'll protect Neilina with my life."_

 _"Please, protect each other," Venusmon corrected the small rabbit-like Digimon as light began to completely envelop them. "You can do this. I have absolute faith in you both..."_

Neilina gasped hard as she sat up in bed, sweat dripping from her forehead. Wiping it off, she looked to her end table, where her Digivice DM sat. Picking it up gently, she looked at the top screen, watching as Lopmon slept inside peacefully.

"...Queen Venusmon..." Neilina panted, flopping back onto the bed. "...Just hang in there, okay?"

* * *

Swinging on the swings of the school's playground, Satoshi couldn't help but let his thoughts drift back to yesterday's events. After supper, he hadn't talked much to Agumon, only returned him to the Digivice DM for the night. Now, it was just a couple of minutes after noon, and they still hadn't spoken much. And, now that they were alone, one of the two of them had finally had enough.

"...C'mon, Satoshi, talk to me," Agumon insisted from the Digivice. "The whole silent treatment thing is just vexing."

Satoshi sighed, coming to a halt as he fished out the Digivice. "Agumon, all my life, I've just wanted an adventure. Now I have it, and all I can think of is how complicated this all is, and how much I wish it wasn't. Danger? Fine, it's kinda in the job description, but finding out my family's involved in this..."

Agumon frowned. "I know...Still, at least you actually HAVE a family and friends that you can think of whenever you want."

"Still having trouble remembering your past?" Satoshi asked.

"I started remembering a little more after I Digivolved," Agumon answered. "Mostly just stuff about the Digimon fighting it out. I don't really remember why, just that the bad Digimon wanted something...and, I think I was one of their targets."

Satoshi blinked in surprise. "A target? Why?"

"I don't know," Agumon replied. "I just remember being important to them and their plans. But every time I try to remember..."

Satoshi slumped his shoulders, his goggles dropping a bit, as he gave a weak smile of assurance. "...Look, we'll figure it out. For now, let's just-"

Satoshi was immediately cut off as the lower screen suddenly displayed a digital map of the area, showing a black and red dot. The boy quickly set his goggles to his forehead, recognizing the dot as being at a parking structure just down the street, meaning it'd only take him ten minutes at the most to run down there. However, to his surprise, not only was a pink dot rapidly approaching there, meaning Neilina had gotten the signal, but a blue dot was also on the map and heading there.

"Is that another Digivice?!" Satoshi demanded.

"Whatever it is, we gotta hurry, or we'll miss everything!" Agumon argued.

Satoshi nodded, hopping off the swing. "Right. Let's go!"

* * *

Neilina hopped off her skateboard as she came to the parking garage, watching as people ran out screaming. Realizing this meant the Digimon had already passed through, she set her board to the strap on her back and ran in. Immediately, she spotted a little pink rat-like Digimon feasting on the energy from an electric car, a rift to the Digital World a few feet behind it. From the looks of the two cars nearby, it wasn't the first it'd drained.

"What've we got this time?" Neilina asked as she pulled out her Digivice DM, scanning the nearby Digimon and reading its stats. "Chuumon, a Virus type Digimon. Special attack is its Cheese Bomb. Not really all that threatening if you ask me."

"Sorry I'm late!" Neilina heard Satoshi yell as he ran in behind her. "Didn't miss anything, did I?"

"Not so much," Neilina said with a smirk. "Now let's take this little rat out!"

"You got it!" Satoshi replied, pulling out his Digivice. " **Realize, Agumon!** "

" **Realize, Lopmon!** " Neilina cried out. The two's Digivices immediately launched out beams of light into the garage, Agumon and Lopmon materializing from them. Chuumon squeaked loudly at the two, reaching behind its back and tossing a piece of cheese with a lit fuse on it. Both Digimon quickly rolled out of the way as the cheese exploded on the ground where they once stood.

"Let's take him out fast, before he breaks anymore cars!" Satoshi suggested.

"Right!" Agumon replied, taking a deep breath. " **Pepper Breath!** "

Spitting out a ball of fire, Agumon shot his flaming attack at Chuumon, setting it ablaze. However, to the collected group's astonishment, it merely sneered at them, energy emerging from its stomach and joining the flames as they coated its body.

" **Chuumon Digivolve to...Salamandermon!** " Chuumon squealed as its simultaneously blazing and glowing body expanded. After a moment, the glowing ceased, but the burning continued to surround the now red lizard-like Digimon, who was now a fair bit larger than the car it had broken earlier. The ground it stepped on seemed to melt slightly around its feet.

"All the energy it ate helped it to Digivolve!" Lopmon observed as Satoshi scanned the creature.

"Salamandermon, a Champion Level Digimon," Satoshi read off. "Despite being an Amphibian Digimon, it clearly likes fire more than water, and can use it to burn opponents to a crisp."

"We'll see who's got the hotter stuff!" Agumon boasted. " **Pepper Breath!** "

Wheezing out another fireball, Agumon was shocked to watch Salamandermon's mouth open, actually swallowing the attack whole. Its flames then burned even brighter as it blew a stream of flames at the Rookie level Digimon, knocking him into a stone support.

"Agumon!" Satoshi cried, running to the Reptile Digimon's side. "You okay?!"

"Dammit, can't use fire here!" Neilina cursed. "Let's try ice!"

" **Blazing Ice!** " Lopmon called, firing shards of ice from her mouth out at Salamandermon. However, before they could hit their target, the Amphibian Digimon merely heated its flames more, melting the ice down to water that fizzled out against the flames.

"Okay, plan B then!" Neilina said, pressing a spear-shaped icon on her Digivice DM, causing a pink pike pole resembling Lopmon's horns at the end to appear in the Beast Digimon's paws. "Take it down with that!"

" **Bunny Pike!** " Lopmon cried out, hurling the weapon at Salamandermon. While it did hit the larger Digimon and seemed to do damage, evident from the pained cry it let out, the pike nonetheless burned down to cinders against the heat. Salamandermon looked highly aggravated, taking a deep breath as it clearly planned to release another stream of flames.

" **Battle Hawk!** " a voice yelled as a familiar-looking red axe was thrown hard at Salamandermon's head, smacking it hard and causing it to miss and scorch the roof. Looking to the source of the attack, it quickly saw Agumon back up, Satoshi standing alongside him. Having had enough, it wheezed out flames that seemed to shape a ring around the two.

"Satoshi, Agumon, get out of there!" Neilina shouted.

"Great, now what?!" Satoshi wondered as Salamandermon looked ready to pour on more heat. Before it could, though, a stray blast of blue flames smacked it across the face. While these flames did little to hurt it, actually feeding its flames more, they nonetheless distracted it, stopping its attack to turn and face the source of the cyan fire. It soon found its target: A yellow Reptile Digimon wearing a white and cobalt fur pelt. Standing just behind him was a boy in a blue beret, tossing a navy Digivice up and down in his hand as he looked Salamandermon over.

" ** _...YUJI?!_** " Satoshi and Neilina both inquired, utterly baffled.

"Hmph, guess this one will have to do for your debut," Yuji muttered, catching his Digivice in his hand and holding it up. "Gabumon, Digivolve!"

" **Gabumon Digivolve to...Garurumon!** " the Reptile Digimon called, energy streaming out from the blue Digivice DM and encasing him in a large egg of light. Within moments, the egg hatched, revealing a white and blue wolf-like Digimon that was larger still than Salamandermon. He growled threateningly at the Amphibian Digimon, who hissed back at him.

"Who's THAT Digimon?!" Satoshi demanded, scanning it with his own Digivice. "Garurumon, a Beast Digimon of the Champion level. His fur is as strong as the legendary metal, Mithril, and he can attack with both blazing blue flames and sub-zero ice attacks."

 _Something's not right here,_ Neilina realized. _The Digivice DM only materializes for kids with strong dreams and good hearts. No one else can even use them, and there's no way someone like Yuji could apply for either of those. So how the heck does HE have one, and a Digimon partner to boot?_

" **Howling Blaster!** " Garurumon yelled as it leaped over a stream of flames launched by Salamandermon, releasing his own breath of intense blue flames. However, despite being much more powerful looking, the result was, nonetheless, that the flames didn't do much to hurt the Amphibian Digimon, and even increased the intensity of the flames coating it.

"Garurumon, I told you before, use strategy!" Yuji admonished. "It's a Digimon that uses fire attacks! Fighting fire with fire will only get you burned!"

"Sorry, Yuji," Garurumon growled lowly, dodging another breath of flames that instead hit the wall. "What's the plan, then?"

"We put him on ice," Yuji replied with a smirk, pressing an icon on the bottom screen of his Digivice that resembled an iceberg. Immediately, a cold chill began to emanate from Garurumon's mouth as it lunged at Salamandermon.

" **Freeze Fang!** " Garurumon shouted, biting down hard on Salamandermon with teeth seemingly coated in glittering ice. Salamandermon cried out in pain as the flames started to calm a bit, its skin turning slightly paler.

"Hey, 'Goggle Boy'!" Yuji yelled, looking to Satoshi. "Finish it off while you've got the chance!"

Satoshi scowled, but nonetheless re-clicked the axe logo on his Digivice. As such, Agumon gained a new axe and leaped up at Salamandermon, hacking straight through it and causing it to burst into bits of data, a DigiEgg left in its wake. Garurumon carefully nudged the egg back toward the rift, causing it to get sucked in as the breach between worlds sealed itself.

"Nice shot," Yuji admitted as Garurumon walked back over to his side, the Beast Digimon's body glowing and shrinking until he'd returned to being Gabumon. "But your ultimate flaw isn't any kind of shortcoming in your strength. If you had any kind of sense at all while fighting, I wouldn't have needed to waste Gabumon's fighting debut on a little rat-turned-amphibian."

"What the heck are you doing here, Yuji?!" Satoshi demanded.

Yuji sighed, shrugging. "This again? Is there something wrong with me occupying the same space as you or something?"

"Other than you being a complete and utter jerk, no," Satoshi replied. "What I meant was, why the hell do you have a frigging Digivice?!"

"Watch the language, kid," Yuji said with a smirk. "And that's my own business, thank you very much."

Satoshi scowled before looking back to Neilina, who waved her hand. "Don't look at me! No way I'd ever give one to HIM!"

"Hey!" Gabumon yelled. "Are you insulting Yuji or something?!"

"I'm just saying I'd never hand a Digivice over to someone who doesn't have a dream," Neilina explained, "or that makes fun of people that do!"

"Yuji HAS a dream!" Gabumon retorted. "He wants to-"

"That's enough, Gabumon!" Yuji barked, silencing his partner, much to the confusion of everyone else. "They clearly already feel like they know me, and I'm not gonna bother trying to change their perceptions of me."

Satoshi blinked, utterly baffled. "...Yuji?"

Yuji harrumphed, turning and walking away. "Anyway, I think we've had enough for one day. C'mon, Gabumon, let's go home."

"But what about school?" Gabumon asked, chasing after Yuji and entering his Digivice.

"Forget it, not in the mood..." Yuji answered, leaving the building.

Lopmon scoffed, pouting a little. "Wow, he really IS a jerk."

"But he's strong, and so is his partner," Agumon observed. "They've even managed to Digivolve to a higher level than us."

 _Yuji..._ Satoshi thought, watching the back of his classmate as he headed presumably for home. _Just what is it you won't tell us?_

* * *

 _ **AUTHOR'S NOTES:**_ And that's chapter 2. With that outta the way, let's talk a bit about the Digivice DM. Originally, I wanted to make a Digivice that was like an Android phone, but it looks like the PSP games have already beaten me to it, so I instead went with something different. As you've seen, it's a Digivice with two screens, a touch screen and a secondary screen that slides out from behind the device (think the Pokédex from the Unova Region in Pokémon Black  & White, only with no buttons and bigger screens). The DM stands for both 'dual monitor' and 'dreams and memories'. Its functions include storing Digimon, creating a link between said Digimon and their human partner, displaying digital maps for locating other Digivices or digital rifts, granting different abilities and modes for Digimon to fight with, and a few other modes that will be elaborated on later.

Anyway, I've already begun posting profiles of my cast on Deviant Art. Be sure to check them out (just search 'Digimon Adventure DM Profile: Satoshi Sakamoto' to find the first one), and remember that I'll be adding new information to each profile I post as new info about them is revealed in the fic.

Next time, Satoshi tries to learn more about Yuji and how Gabumon was able to Digivolve, Agumon tries to recall his memories of the Digital World, and Neilina tries to stop her head from exploding while keeping everything under control, all while a trio of hoodlum Digimon try to cause lots of trouble. Ja né!


	3. Greymon, The Prehistoric Flame!

_**DISCLAIMER:**_ I do not own Digimon, though this story does include some fan made Digimon. Digimon was created by Akiyoshi Hongo, Toei Animation, and Bandai.

* * *

Yuji narrowed his eyes, looking on as intimidatingly as he could at the creature before him. It was night, long past sundown, and he'd been tracking this Digimon for an hour, finally ending up on the roof of an abandoned warehouse. He couldn't help but feel a little tired out, but tried his best to keep that to himself in the face of what was hovering above the roof a few feet in front of him.

The Digimon looked like a giant metal wasp, right down to its shell being painted to look like one, and possessing a massive stinger. Gabumon was already out of the Digivice DM, and was likewise trying to stare it down, though this was easier said than done. Not so much because it was bigger and scarier looking, but because, like an insect, its eyes were compounded, making staring it down a bit of a challenge from Gabumon and Yuji.

"Let's see what we've got tonight," Yuji said, scanning the creature with his Digivice DM. "...Here we go: Waspmon, a Cyborg Digimon. That stinger is deadly enough, but it can also turn into a blaster cannon, and it can keep a good track of its targets with its antennae and eyes, so stay on the move."

Gabumon nodded, quickly going into a dash as Waspmon's stinger shifted around to reveal a gun barrel. The Cyborg Digimon fired energy blasts all across the roof, leaving horrid-looking scorch marks. Fortunately, Gabumon had been practicing his rooftop parkour as of late, and was more than prepared for such a fight.

" **Blue Blaster!** " Gabumon called, releasing a stream of cyan flames from his mouth as he continued running that burned the steel body of Waspmon. Unfortunately, this did little to really hurt Waspmon, who instead switched its cannon back to a stinger and fired it out on a chain, swinging and stabbing it around wildly. Eventually, it managed to nick Gabumon across his knee, causing him to trip up.

"Get up!" Yuji ordered as Waspmon took aim again with its cannon. "Hurry!"

Gabumon winced as he slowly got back to his feet, just as Waspmon fired its cannon. However, before it could hit, an all-too-familiar Reptile Digimon ran in front of the attack and deflected it with his axe.

"You okay, Gabumon?" Agumon asked, smiling over his shoulder.

Gabumon nodded. "Thanks for the assist."

Yuji blinked in surprise, looking around before finally spotting Satoshi nearby, giving Yuji a thumbs up. "Hope you don't mind us lending a hand."

Yuji sighed, turning back to face Waspmon. "If you feel you need to, but isn't it past your bedtime?"

"Y'know, the kid jokes don't work that well when you're only a year older than me," Satoshi replied before likewise turning his attention to the fight. "Agumon, let's go!"

" **Burning Battle Hawk!** " Agumon wheezed, releasing a fireball from his mouth and smacking it with his axe, cleaving Waspmon's cannon with the burning blade. "Gabumon, your turn!"

" **Gabumon Digivolve to...Garurumon!** " Gabumon yelled, leaping up as he quickly transformed into the much larger wolf-like Digimon. " **Howling Blaster!** "

With a howl, Garurumon released a large stream of blue flames all over Waspmon. Within moments, the Cyborg Digimon's body melted away into bits of data, leaving a DigiEgg hovering in the sky. It then took off through the night sky, presumably back to the rift it had originally traveled through. Seeing his work done, Garurumon returned to being Gabumon, he and Agumon exchanging a high five.

"Nice shot!" Agumon cheered. "Man, I can't wait until I can do stuff like that!"

Gabumon smiled warmly. "Well, give it time. Don't wanna rush it, trust me."

Satoshi grinned at the two Digimon exchanging niceties, turning to face Yuji again. "Yuji, good fight. We should do this more often."

Yuji huffed, turning away. "Yeah, let's not. Gabumon, we're going home, NOW."

Gabumon frowned, walking toward Yuji, before Satoshi threw an arm out. "Hold on! We just helped you, and we don't even get a 'thank you'?"

"I didn't ask for your help," Yuji insisted.

"But you DID need it!" Satoshi argued. "C'mon, I haven't seen you since the whole thing at the parking garage yesterday, and I KNOW something's gotta be bugging you, 'cuz you'd NEVER miss school unless it was!"

"Tch, think you know me so well," Yuji muttered under his breath before turning to face Satoshi. "Why are you even here, anyway?"

"Uh, same reason as you?" Satoshi replied, looking confused. "Digimon on the loose, possibly attacking people?"

Yuji rolled his eyes. "It was some moron trying to use a crowbar on a sealed register. From what I can tell, he wet his pants and ran at the first sight of trouble. No one was hurt."

"Ugh, are they arguing again?" Agumon groaned.

"Yes," Gabumon replied, shoulders slumped. "Just so long as they keep us out of it, though-"

"And anyway, I KNOW why you're REALLY here," Yuji pointed out. "You wanna know why Gabumon can Digivolve and Agumon can't."

"...Never mind," Gabumon sighed, sweat-dropping.

Satoshi growled a little. "...Look, maybe it IS a little, but it's not what it sounds like. When Koromon Digivolved into Agumon, he could remember some of his past in the Digital World and what was going on there. I figured maybe if he Digivolved again..."

Yuji scoffed, causing Satoshi to clench a fist as he went on. "On top of that, I wanna know more about how you got a Digivice! Neilina said that they only go to kids with-"

"Strong dreams and good hearts," Yuji interjected almost robotically, "I heard it before. What about it?"

"Gabumon said you have a dream," Satoshi pointed out. "If that's true, then why do you always make fun of me for having one?"

"...Loudmouth," Yuji grumbled, giving a quick glare to Gabumon before refocusing on Satoshi. "You wanna know why? Because you never actively take steps to make your dream a reality, you just like to dream and hope it comes true. I WORK everyday to make MY dreams a reality."

"HEY, I work at it!" Satoshi yelled indignantly. "I'm working at it right now!"

"Yeah, because Neilina told you to!" Yuji countered. "What if she'd never given you that Digivice?! You'd still be sitting around waiting for your dreams to happen! You're not an adventurer, you're her pawn!"

Unable to hold back, Satoshi grabbed Yuji by the collar and got up in his face, practically breathing fire while Agumon and Gabumon tried to separate them. "YOU TAKE THAT BACK!"

" _ **WOULD YOU TWO KNOCK IT OFF?!**_ " the two heard a rather terrifying voice boom out, looking to the edge of the roof to see Neilina standing there with a vein in her forehead threatening to turn into a bolt of lightning, Lopmon perched nervously on her shoulders. "Seriously, you're both lucky your little fight is in an abandoned part of town!"

The two boys quickly parted, turning away from each other in a huff as Neilina sighed in exasperation. "Look, we've got enough to worry about without fighting with each other. I suggest the two of you stop bickering like children and focus more of that energy on fighting Digimon crossing into our world."

"Sorry, but I do things my own way," Yuji commented. "Besides, you want kids who will do what you tell them? There's plenty more of us around town."

Satoshi's eyes widened a bit in shock. "There are?"

"What, did you think you were the first kid she gave a Digivice to?" Yuji scoffed. "Sorry to burst your bubble, 'Goggle Boy', but you're really not that special. Neilina's been recruiting for, what, at least a few months? Gotta be about a half a dozen of us by now."

Satoshi's jaw dropped for a second, but he quickly recomposed himself. "If that's true, then we need to get everyone together to take down the Digimon coming over!"

"They're not ready," Neilina interjected, looking away. "Some of them don't want to fight, and others are...doing other things right now."

"...'Doing other things'?" Satoshi inquired, confused.

Yuji shrugged, walking away. "Gotta say, Neilina, you're not very good at this whole child-soldier-recruitment thing..."

Lopmon practically stared a hole through Yuji at this comment. "Neilina is NOT recruiting child soldiers!"

"It's an army of children!" Yuji retorted as he stopped walking, a small crackle of energy running through his Digivice. "That's pretty much the exact definition of child soldiers!"

"You make it sound like they don't have a choice, though!" Neilina argued, the screen of her Digivice DM going to static for a moment.

"Oh, please!" Yuji growled, looking suddenly furious. "You handed v-pets out willy nilly, never once telling the people you were giving them to what they were getting into! Then, AFTER they're already linked to a Digimon, you give a little speech about how they need to help, and like puppets on strings, they do as they're told!"

"I AM NOT A PUPPET!" Satoshi shouted, not noticing a small spark leave his Digivice.

"Uhh, guys?!" Gabumon tried to speak up. "I don't think you know this, but something weird's going on with-"

"And another thing, at least I'm TRYING to help out instead of just running around being a jerk!" Satoshi ranted.

"Yeah, 'cuz that's ALL I do!" Yuji roared, getting face-to-face with Satoshi again. "I don't try to help people, I don't stop Digimon that pass between worlds, I just run around giving wedgies all day!"

"Both of you, time out!" Neilina yelled, slapping hands on both of them.

" _ **BUTT OUT!**_ " Satoshi and Yuji shouted, just as all three Digivices suddenly released a mass of energy that knocked the kids to the ground.

Satoshi groaned, grabbing his head as he sat up. Looking up in the air, he watched in horror as the sky itself suddenly had a small tear ripped into it, releasing gusts of wind that pushed at the three kids and their Digimon. Within moments, not one but three figures began to emerge from it, all looking to be small, stout, ogre-like Digimon of varying colours.

"...Okay, THAT one's on us," Neilina muttered with a gulp.

The kids and their Digimon backed up a bit as the three oni-esque Digimon dropped down from the rift. One was a light green in colour with red hair, one was dark green with lime hair, and one was an icy blue with a spiked cap on his head. All three were carrying wooden clubs with bolts and screws sticking out of them, and growled threateningly at the kids.

"NOW what are we in for?" Satoshi asked, scanning the closest one to him. "Dark green over here is Shamanmon. Says when he isn't causing mischief, he uses spells and incantations to tell the future."

"And I predict you're in for a world of pain, kiddo," Shamanmon growled with a smirk.

"The redhead's called Goblinmon," Neilina said. "Despite being a Rookie, he's strong enough to toss boulders at anyone who looks at him the wrong way."

"Not only that, I bet I could toss your little bunny friend all the way to the other side of town!" Goblinmon cackled.

"Last one's SnowGoblinmon," Yuji explained, "their buddy from the colder regions of the Digital World. He loves the cold, and would just as soon bury all the warmer places in the world in snow."

"Even wolf-wannabe isn't gonna be warm enough in that pelt for what I'VE got in store," SnowGoblinmon hissed.

Agumon growled as he, Gabumon, and Lopmon stood ready before their partners. The Ogre Digimon Trio chuckled as they sized each other up, looking ready for a brawl. Satoshi, Yuji, and Neilina readied themselves for the fight that could break out at any moment.

"Remember, stick to the plan," Shamanmon insisted.

"Yeah, yeah," Goblinmon replied, rolling his eyes. "SnowGoblinmon, count us off!"

SnowGoblinmon smirked. "Okay then... **ONETWOTHREEYOU'REIT!** "

With that, the three Rookie level Evil Digimon dashed in different directions, leaping off the roof and down to the alleyways below, cackling all the way. Yuji, like the others, blinked and sweat-dropped in stunned surprise, before he gave himself a quick slap.

"C'mon, they're getting away!" Yuji yelled, grabbing Gabumon by the paw and chasing after SnowGoblinmon.

" _ **RIGHT!**_ " Satoshi and Neilina replied, running after the other two with their own Digimon partners.

"Whooooaaa, easy, Neilina!" Lopmon cried, clinging to the former's back as she quickly made her way down a fire escape. "I'm gonna toss something if you don't slow down, and it won't be ice!"

 _Dammit, dammit, DAMMIT!_ Neilina cursed as she dropped down to the alley and ran after Goblinmon. _If we don't catch them, people could get hurt, and it'll be all our fault!_

* * *

"DAMMIT!" Satoshi yelled, kicking a soda can across the street. "I can't believe we lost him!"

Agumon frowned. "Don't worry, Satoshi, we'll catch him."

Satoshi groaned, flopping down onto a bench. "Gah, this is all my fault! If I hadn't picked a fight with Yuji-"

"It wasn't your fault," Agumon insisted, getting a skeptical look. "...Well, okay, it was kinda, but not ALL your fault. You were ALL kinda scary by the end, to be honest..."

Satoshi's face immediately fell, realizing what the Reptile Digimon was saying. "...Oh. Agumon, I...I didn't mean to scare you."

Agumon put up a brave face at this, taking a seat next to Satoshi. "Meh, it's okay. I'm too tough to let that bug me for too long. Besides, you only went after Yuji to try and help me out with my memories."

"Yeah, but..." Satoshi started to say before looking away. "...it became about me pretty quickly. I don't know, I guess what he said really got to me. I mean, would I really just be sitting around doing nothing but daydream if I'd never gotten the Digivice? Am I only a part of this because Neilina asked me to be?"

Agumon folded his arms. "...Satoshi, sometimes things happen because they're supposed to. It's not easy to tell exactly how or why, they just do. Maybe this was just how you were meant to find your adventure."

Satoshi blinked in surprise. "...As a recruit?"

"That's just the start of the adventure," Agumon noted. "From here on out, what you do is your call. No one MADE you choose to help Neilina, you just did."

"I didn't choose to help HER," Satoshi corrected, confusing Agumon. "I chose to help YOU."

"...Oh," Agumon stammered, his cheeks turning slightly reddish. "W-Well, same thing. The point is, you aren't a puppet. The decisions you make are yours, no one else's. And even if you didn't put too much effort into making your dreams a reality...well, you can choose to do so now."

Satoshi smiled a little. "...That's pretty wise for a little guy like you."

Agumon gave a mock hurt look. "...Well, I wasn't always this little..."

Before Satoshi could ask what Agumon meant by this, the two were cut off by the whoosh of something being swung down at them. Moving out of the way, they barely managed to avoid getting smashed as Shamanmon's wooden club split the bench apart. He had some digital bits falling from his open jaw like saliva, which he licked up and swallowed.

"Looks like he's been eating lately," Satoshi observed. "Be careful, Agumon!"

"Got it!" Agumon replied, rolling out of the way of another slam from the club before slashing his nails across Shamanmon's side. Shamanmon hissed in pain, but bore through it, leaping up into the air.

" **Mad Twist!** " Shamanmon roared, swirling his club around to create and launch purple rings of energy at Agumon. They smacked into the Reptile Digimon hard, knocking him across the street and into a garbage can.

"Grr... **Pepper Breath!** " Agumon growled, wheezing out a fireball that smacked Shamanmon into a telephone pole. However, the Ogre Digimon simply smirked, leaping up and biting the power lines running along the pole.

"Is he crazy?!" Satoshi demanded, watching as Shamanmon was electrocuted.

"No, look!" Agumon insisted, pointing with his claw. Sure enough, while Shamanmon was being jolted harshly with electricity, he was also consuming the energy running through it. It then hopped down and glared at the two, grinning evilly as energy surrounded it.

"Uh oh..." Satoshi gasped, backing up as the energy formed an egg-shape and started expanding dramatically. "He's Digivolving!"

Agumon took a defensive stance as the egg started to crack, a deep voice calling out from within, " **Shamanmon Digivolve to...Fugamon!** " Finally, the egg shattered, revealing a far taller ogre-like Digimon with orange skin, long white hair, and a bone club with steel spikes sticking out.

"Fugamon, a Champion level Evil Digimon," Satoshi declared as he scanned the creature with his Digivice. "He can punch and swing that club of his hard enough to send gusts of wind out at enemies."

"Yes, and you gave me just the right chance to get the energy to do it," Fugamon taunted. "Not to mention I get to take you both out at the same time. My brothers are going to have a hard time topping that."

Satoshi's eye twitched. "What is this, a game to you?!"

Fugamon grinned widely. "Well, if you want to put a name to it..."

"Then let's see how you deal with THIS play!" Satoshi yelled, hitting the axe icon on his Digivice.

" **Burning Battle Hawk!** " Agumon cried, summoning his axe and coating it with flames from his mouth as he charged Fugamon.

" **Heavy Swing!** " Fugamon roared, swinging his club hard enough to send a gust at Agumon's legs. The Reptile Digimon was tripped up just enough to leave himself open to a harsh punch to the face, sending him sprawling across the ground.

"Agumon, get up!" Satoshi screamed.

"Too late!" Fugamon yelled, leaping at Agumon as he lay face-down in the pavement. "I'll finish him!"

" **Blue Blaster!** "

" **Blazing Ice!** " Before Fugamon could react, he was smacked in the back by cyan flames and small chunks of ice, sending him tumbling a few feet away from Agumon. Spinning around, Satoshi spotted Gabumon and Lopmon, and behind them, Yuji and Neilina.

"You guys!" Satoshi exclaimed. "You...you came back to help me?!"

"Hmph, help is a subjective term," Yuji replied. "I owed you for earlier. That's all."

Neilina sighed, exasperated. "Yeah, whatever, we gotta stop this guy before he gets anymore energy."

Satoshi nodded. "Right. Yuji, Digivolve Gabumon, quick!"

"I can't, not right after his last fight," Yuji explained. "His body needs time to recover."

"Sorry, guys," Gabumon said, frowning. "If only I could Digivolve, I could stop this guy."

Satoshi shook his head. "It's okay, Gabumon. It's not your fault..."

Fugamon groaned, getting back to his feet and standing tall before the team. "As touching as this is, all you've done is make it all the easier for me to outscore my brothers. Once I've taken you all out, no way they'll do better than me!"

Satoshi turned to face Fugamon, practically snarling. "You...You think killing people and Digimon is fun? Time someone put you in a penalty box."

"And who's gonna put me there, YOU?" Fugamon scoffed. "If you think you could beat me like I am now, you must be dreaming!"

At that last word, something in Satoshi snapped, causing him to grip his Digivice tightly. "...Maybe I am...but this is a dream I plan on making come true with my own hands!"

Agumon's eyes fluttered open as he heard these words, slowly getting back to his feet. "Satoshi...I'll help you. Give me the power of your dreams, and we'll make this happen together!"

Satoshi nodded, holding his Digivice out. "Go get him!"

Suddenly, a burst of light shot out from the orange Digivice DM, engulfing Agumon. His eyes went from green to red as the energy formed a giant egg around him, filling him with energy and causing his body to expand as he roared out, " **Agumon Digivolve to...Greymon!** " After a few moments, the egg shattered, revealing a much larger Dinosaur Digimon. He had orange skin with blue stripes along his back, shoulders, upper legs, and tail. He wore a silver helmet with three horns on his head, and had a metal spike attached to his long tail.

"He did it...!" Yuji gasped, pulling out his Digivice to scan the newly Digivolved Digimon. "Greymon, a Champion level Digimon. His tail spike and the horns on his helmet are deadly, but nowhere near as much as his ultimate attack, the Mega Flame."

Greymon roared at Fugamon, immediately charging him. The Ogre Digimon tried to dodge, but found his opponent charging far to fast, knocking him through the side of a building with his helmeted skull. Greymon then grabbed Fugamon by the leg with his teeth and hurled him across the road, only for the Evil Digimon to catch himself with his bone club.

" **Evil Hurricane!** " Fugamon shouted, throwing a punch that send out a small whirlwind at Greymon.

"Dodge it!" Satoshi yelled, Greymon quickly slamming his tail into the ground to launch himself upward, the whirlwind hitting the building and leveling what was left of it. As he came down, Fugamon swung his club hard, but Greymon simply slashed it apart with his tail spike, causing the Ogre Digimon to stumble back in surprise. Greymon then reared his head back, small wisps of flame escaping his jaws as he took a deep breath, Fugamon backing away.

" **Mega Flame!** " Greymon bellowed, releasing a white-hot burst of fire that utterly consumed Fugamon, burning him away into digital bits before he could feel a thing. As the flames died down, a single DigiEgg lifted up into the air and zoomed across the night sky, returning to the rift. Greymon let out a single roar of victory before his body began to glow and shrink, returning to Agumon.

"Way to go, buddy!" Satoshi cheered, running up and picking the Reptile Digimon up into the air. "You whooped him good!"

Agumon grimaced slightly. "Yeah...umm, Satoshi? Please don't shake me around. My stomach is completely empty, and you're making me feel sick..."

* * *

Goblinmon growled, smashing his club into the stone walls of the sewer. "Dammit! Shamanmon got taken out! And he's supposed to be the smart one!"

"Relax, bro," SnowGoblinmon advised. "Everything's still going according to plan. We all knew there was a chance one of us would go down in the first round. What's important is that we stick to the plan set up for us."

"Indeed, listen to your cool-headed brother..." a female voice echoed across the halls, causing the two to immediately bow down nervously. Within moments, a warp in space similar to the rips between dimensions appeared, a set of glowing ice blue eyes appearing in the dark.

"M-Mistress!" Goblinmon stammered. "We have encountered the enemy! They are strong, but we shall eliminate them!"

"I think it best to test them further before you challenge them," the voice replied. "The first rift of the required size to open, I'm sending one of my operatives through to deal with Venusmon's pawns..."

* * *

Satoshi sweat-dropped hard as he stood in the doorway of his apartment, facing his mother. As usual, his attempts to slip in unnoticed failed miserably, as Aiya had heard him sneaking out in the first place and been waiting all night for him to return, arms crossed and foot tapping. Luckily for Satoshi, though, he did not come alone, as not only was Agumon standing at his side, but they were flanked by Neilina, Lopmon, Yuji, and Gabumon.

"...You know, when I gave my blessing for you to become involved in this whole mess, I did NOT mean that it was okay for you to leave in the middle of the night without so much as a note, Satoshi," Aiya explained, looking clearly vexed.

Satoshi bowed his head, sighing. "I'm sorry, Mom. I promise it won't happen again. I just didn't wanna worry you."

"Yeah, you did a GREAT job side-stepping THAT one," Yuji muttered, quickly getting jabbed in the side by Neilina.

Aiya cocked an eyebrow, looking to Yuji. "...Interesting choice of friends."

Yuji shrugged. "I'm not your son's friend. But, I suppose for as long as there are Digimon threatening this world...I'll consider us allies."

Aiya couldn't help but smirk at this reaction. "Allies and friends are obviously a lot closer to being the same thing than you think, or you wouldn't say that."

"That's what I keep saying to him," Gabumon pointed out, getting a small laugh from everyone else except for Yuji.

"...Anyway, Agumon, did you remember anything more when you Digivolved this time?" Satoshi asked the Reptile Digimon.

Agumon nodded. "Yeah. I remember what the bad Digimon were after, what I was supposed to keep safe from them: The Dragon DigiMemory."

Neilina's eyes widened at this. "Wh-What?! Tell me they didn't get it!"

"Get what?" Satoshi inquired, all eyes turning to Neilina. "What are the DigiMemories?"

"Powerful items given to the Kings and Queens of the Digital World's leading lands," Neilina explained, adjusting her glasses. "They possess a massive amount of data and energy that, when used right, can grant a Digimon incredible strength, enough to Digivolve much faster and higher than normally possible for them. Think like Fugamon today, only on a MUCH bigger scale."

"If the bad Digimon get their hands on even one of them, it could be a huge problem for both worlds," Lopmon elaborated. "That's why Neilina was first chosen to have a Digivice."

Yuji looked to Agumon inquisitively. "...Well? Do they have it or not?"

Agumon sighed, shoulders slumped. "To be honest, I don't remember what happened to the Dragon DigiMemory. I just remember a fight, and then an explosion, and then here I was in the Human World."

"So, what you're saying is, the next Digimon that comes through could be a really powerful one?" Aiya asked as the fear set into the whole group. For a while, no one said anything, until finally...

"...Neilina, Yuji," Satoshi started to say. "I know how you both feel about this, but I think we need to get the other kids with Digimon into this, and fast. If we don't all fight together, we're done for. Us, and everyone else in both worlds."

"It WOULD help our chances," Gabumon pointed out, looking up at his partner.

"And it IS part of our mission," Lopmon added, giving her ears a flap to land up on Neilina's shoulders.

Neilina breathed out a sigh. "...Well, I suppose we don't have a choice. When you get down to it, we need more help to take on what's coming."

Yuji rolled his eyes. "Maybe you do...but, I suppose I can't be expected to take care of EVERYTHING, so sharing the load seems like the smart thing to do."

"I think that sounds like a good idea," Aiya agreed. "In the meantime, Satoshi, I'll go over what notes your father left here to see if there's anything useful in any of them."

Yuji blinked, confused. "...Notes? About what?"

"Yeah, the thing is...my dad is a scientist, and he may have discovered the Digital World when I was a baby," Satoshi admitted, resulting in Yuji's face turning pale and his jaw looking to fall straight through the floor, much to the amusement of Lopmon. "...What?"

"Your dad...YOUR dad..." Yuji stammered, his pale face now turning red. "You... ... ...I hate you SO much..."

* * *

 _ **AUTHOR'S NOTES:**_ And that's chapter 3. Not much I wanna say here, except to thank N. Harmonik for the idea of using the Ogre Digimon Trio. Also, I should verify that Greymon in this story is actually Greymon O from Digimon Story: Super Xros Wars. Essentially, it's a recolour of the Greymon from Digimon Fusion to look more like the original.

Anyway, be sure to check my Deviant Art account, Jyger85, for profiles of Satoshi, Yuji, and Neilina, which include info on their Digimon, themes, and more, all of which will be expanded upon as the story continues. And check in as, next chapter, the kids decide to recruit two others with Digivices and Digimon partners, but both could prove difficult to get on board, all the while more Digimon continue to attack the city. Ja né!


End file.
